January 5th & January 6th-Twelfth Night-Epiphany

 Epiphany  also known as Theophany in Eastern traditions, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation  of God as Jesus Christ.

In the Western Christian Church, the feast commemorates principally (but not solely) the visit of the Magi(3) to the infant Jesus, and thus Jesus Christ's physical manifestation to the Gentiles.  It is sometimes called Kings Day, and in some traditions celebrated as Little Christmas.

Eastern Christians, on the other hand, commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God. 

The traditional date for the feast is January 6. However, since 1970, the celebration is held in some countries on the Sunday after January 1. Those Eastern Churches which are still following the Julian Calendar observe the feast on what, according to the internationally used Gregorian calendar, is January 19, because of the current 13-day difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

In many Western Churches, the eve of the feast is celebrated as Twelfth Night(Epiphany Eve).The Monday after Epiphany is known as Plough Monday.

Popular Epiphany customs include Singing hymns , chalking doors, house blessing, consuming eating King Cake, as well as attending church. It is customary for Christians in some localities to remove their Christmas decorations on Epiphany Eve (Twelfth Night), although those in other Christian countries historically remove them on Candlemas, the conclusion of Epiphanytide.According to the first tradition, those who fail to remember to remove their Christmas decorations on Epiphany Eve must leave them untouched until Candlemas, the second opportunity to remove them; failure to observe this custom is considered inauspicious.

Important Readings from the bible on this include Psalm 72:1-7  Mathew 2:12, Ezekiel 1:28, Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3 1-12

Note: Feel free to comment with questions and or clarifications. All comments welcomed!